Dentistry – Orthodontics – Means to transmit or apply force to tooth
Patent
1999-01-14
2000-03-07
Lewis, Ralph A.
Dentistry
Orthodontics
Means to transmit or apply force to tooth
433 24, A61C 712, A61C 718
Patent
active
060332174
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to orthodontic appliances, and more particularly to a slidable orthodontic appliance to be used in coupling anterior teeth and lateral teeth to each other.
BACKGROUND ART
As a method of orthodontic, there has conventionally been employed, for example, a method comprising steps of extracting the first premolar tooth or the like and retracting anterior teeth toward lateral teeth to align the remaining teeth. In such a case, a technique of using an orthodontic metal wire 21 made of stainless steel attached to a large number of brackets 20 fixed to the teeth is available as shown FIG. 6.
The technique shown in FIG. 6, however, has a disadvantage of spoiling the appearance of teeth because the metal wire is placed buccally. For this reason, another technique of placing the brackets 20 and the metal wire 21 lingually is also available, as shown in FIG. 7. In this technique, however, the brackets and metal wire are not easy to set.
Therefore, a technique shown in FIG. 8 is also adopted in some cases, where brackets 20' and a metal wire 21' are set on the lingual side of the anterior teeth F only, while, for lateral teeth S, brackets 20" and a metal wire 21" are provided on the buccal side of the lateral teeth S, the lateral teeth S and the anterior teeth F are coupled to each other with metal wires 22 and further the anterior teeth F is pulled toward the lateral teeth S by biasing means 23 such as elastic modules.
In the technique shown in FIG. 8, however, as the anterior teeth F is supported only by the metal wires 22, the metal wires 22 deflect, causing obstruction to the tooth alignment. While the tooth alignment, since the biasing means 23 keeps biasing the anterior teeth F toward the lateral teeth S, the distance between the anterior teeth F and the lateral teeth S becomes shorter gradually with a lapse of time. Unfortunately, because no means of absorption therefor is provided, the metal wire 22 would need to be readjusted for its shape, length and the like. As a result, this work would cause a complexity.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been achieved in view of these and other disadvantages of the conventional orthodontic appliance and method.
It is an object of the invention to provide an orthodontic appliance which is capable of firmly coupling anterior teeth and lateral teeth to each other while preventing any deflection of the wire and which enhances working efficiency when setting the orthodontic appliance.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an orthodontic appliance which is free from any spoilage of the appearance of teeth and which is also capable of simultaneously aligning teeth with an outer cylinder mounted thereto around an axis line vertical to the occlusal surfaces of the teeth.
To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides an orthodontic appliance comprising a band to be set around one tooth of lateral teeth, an outer cylinder fixed to the band, a wire fixed to each tooth of anterior teeth and extended toward the lateral teeth, biasing means for biasing the wire toward the lateral teeth, and an inner cylinder formed longer than the outer cylinder and supported slidably within the outer cylinder, wherein the inner cylinder has such an inside diameter as to allow the wire to be inserted therethrough, and a fixing portion capable of fixing the wire at an open end portion thereof.
In this case, since the inner cylinder is formed longer than the outer cylinder and supported slidably within the outer cylinder, the wire, after being inserted into the inner cylinder, can be set by inserting the inner cylinder into the outer cylinder. Thus, the setting workability of the orthodontic appliance is improved. Also, the anterior teeth and the lateral teeth can be firmly coupled to each other, while the wire is prevented from deflection.
As one embodiment of the present invention, the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder may be preferably located on the lingual side of the lateral teeth. In this
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Lewis Ralph A.
Shofu Inc.
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